Pilots (flight crew) of modern commercial aircraft aviate, navigate, and communicate utilizing computer systems and associated cockpit interfaces used for managing, organizing, and simplifying the pilots' workload.
Generally, the management of information related to the flight entails utilizing a number of means for acquiring, utilizing, and redirecting graphical, aural, and textual information to and from the airplane's systems. For example, such means may include a number of cockpit (flight deck) displays, control panels, keyboard devices, cursor control devices, touch screen devices, and voice/audio systems. However, as many of these devices are used for multiple and sometimes coupled or associated functions, optimizing each user interface for each cockpit function poses a manifold challenge.
One facet of this challenge is to provide continuous feedback as to the current state of a pilot's data manipulation. Other related facets of the challenge include but are not limited to increasing pilot familiarity, increasing proficiency, reducing the need for recall, and reducing the need for retraining.
For example, in a cockpit with a display-based operator interface, transferring data from one position on the system's display such as a Control Display Unit (CDU) to another position on the system's display is a common task. In most computer interfaces, the information being transferred is held in a temporary memory location, often known as the “clipboard”, which may or may not be visible. It is also a generalized function that is not customized to a task at hand such as, for example, tasks related to programming a flight management computer to affect the flight plan or performance of an airplane. If the operator is interrupted between the original selection or manipulation of the data to be transferred and the selection of the position (destination) to transfer the data, the operator may forget the nature of the data under manipulation, its intended destination, or the current step in the data handling process.
With respect to cockpit systems, for example, data to be transferred from one display location or field to another are sometimes contained in a “scratchpad”, which is a special data entry field that serves as a central or common location for myriad data to be handled by the pilots. Subsequent to entry on the scratchpad, task interruptions may impart additional workload to pilots when attempting to recall or find out the state of the data handling or data transfer task associated with the scratchpad data.
Thus, there is a need for a method, system, and device that improves access, visibility, and handling aspects of cockpit data management.